Words / B1

HOHL/həʊl/

Whole means complete; all of something. The whole book; the whole team; a whole day. All often needs of with pronouns (all of them); entire is a close synonym, a little more formal; total is more for numbers. On the whole means generally. Wholly is a formal adverb (wholly wrong). A hole is a spelling trap.

Meaning

Complete; all of something.

Examples

• “I read the whole book in two days.”
• “We spent the whole morning on one exercise.”
• “On the whole, the course was well organised.”

Good to know

the whole + noun. on the whole = generally. Formal synonym: entire. Spelling trap: hole.

Near in meaning

entire

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